What work would you do if you didn’t need to work?

This week, Finland announced it’s plan to pay all it’s 5.4 million citizens 800 euros every month – just enough money to be able to eat, drink, sleep, learn and live a life without fear of not having enough.

If you got paid enough to not have to work for the money, what would you do? Would you create art? Do something to change the world? Do something to help a fellow human?

Finland’s plan is the furthest any country has gone so far to introduce the concept of a “basic income”. This year, two Dutch cities, Utrecht and Tilberg, have also began their own “basic income” experiments.

Why the growing movement towards basic incomes now?

In this technological age, we’re getting greater productivity and also greater unemployment. It isn’t as easy to get jobs, but there’s more money than ever.

The solution? Give everyone enough money to not need to work, and then people will do the work that they would actually want to do, and to do the work that’s actually needed.

Andre Daniel, the Editor of Basic Income News says, “If technology replaces human labor in an ever growing number of tasks, then only some kind of social contract which says we all get a fair share of those machines work will actually reap the benefits of it.”

“People will work on task of their choosing, not on paid jobs with which they only barely identify with, if at all. Now that cannot happen if people don’t have the means to get the basic resources they need to live with dignity.”

The problem? Many are against the idea. In Switzerland last month, the Swiss Parliament voted down a plan for Basic Income proposed by the citizens, with politicians saying it was “The most dangerous and harmful initiative ever.” Why? Because they believe it would make people lazy and disruptive if they didn’t need to work…

What do you think? If you were paid each month with enough to live on, would you get lazy and disruptive? Or would you find ways with your time to add value and be productive?

Personally, I look at those who are already not working for money – Children, retirees, stay-at-home-mums-and-dad, wealthy entrepreneurs – and see what they are doing with their time.

Most aren’t being lazy and disruptive. Most are following their passions and purpose. Most do more meaningful work than those going to jobs for the money.

I would love to see a future in which we give all of humanity for free the same privilege we give our pets – a home, food, drink, a healthy and vibrant life. Combine that with Bill Gates’ proposal of zero income tax, replaced with a consumption tax. So we reward those who create more, and those who consume more pay back into the pot.

I believe if we all have enough to not have to worry about survival, and were given the same opportunities for growth, we would all discover and pursue the real reason we’re here.

We would have less suffering, less violence, less fear, less sickness, less separation, less poverty.

We would have a world with more art, more music, more world changing creations, more people caring for each other, more love.

“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” ~ Marc Anthony